The Rundown

Economy, Stimulus Drive 2010 Outlook

By Ben Pershing
For all the current focus on health-care reform, it may just be the economy and the perceived effectiveness of the stimulus package that drive results in next year's midterm elections.

With that in mind, Vice President Biden was out on the hustings Thursday, making the case that the stimulus package has created or saved several hundred thousand jobs and played a key role in boosting the economy. If the political fortunes of Democrats are going to turn around ahead of 2010, the White House would like to see more headlines like this one from Wednesday's Wall Street Journal: "U.S. Economy Gets Lift From Stimulus." Similarly, The Washington Post writes today that the economic stimulus package "is contributing to what increasingly looks like a budding recovery," though concerns remain over unemployment and other lagging stats. Alternatively, the White House would prefer fewer stories like this Associated Press "Fact Check," which concludes that Biden's "glowing assessment overlooks many of the program's problems, including delays in releasing money, questionable spending priorities and project picks that are under investigation."

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